© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool BUSINESS WRITING AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool The purpose of business writing is to convey information to someone else or to request information from them. To be effective writing for business, one must be complete, concise, and accurate. A lot of writing for business is sloppy, poorly written, disorganized, littered with jargon, and incomplete. Often it is either too long or too short. All these attributes contribute to ineffective business writing.

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool Vocabulary Concise : Giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words Sloppy : Careless and unsystematic; excessively casual Proofread : Read (printer's proofs or other written or printed material) and mark any errors Components : A part or element of a larger whole Thesis : A statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved Pertinent : Relevant or applicable to a particular matter Transition : The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another Metaphors : A thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool There are certain steps you need to follow to create effective business writing. You need to: 1) Organize your material 2) Consider your audience 3) Write 4) Proofread 5) And edit your text. The emphasis on each step may vary, depending on what you are writing, but the steps will be the same.

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool Learning Objectives  Identify the components that good writers include in their writing  Plan documents by identifying their purpose, audience, thesis, and scope  Use outlining tools to identify key topics and subtopics  Write effective sentences that provide pertinent information to your readers  Build paragraphs that include topic sentences, supporting details, and transition phrases  Make correct word choices and use the voice and phrasing appropriate for your document  Review and use guidelines for writing effective business correspondence  Improve your final documents by getting feedback from others

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool Tips for Business Writing Be Concise Use Simple Words Avoid Metaphors Check Your Spelling Skip the Jargon Double Check Watch Your Pronouns Know your audience Think like a reporter Leave the symbols Leave abbreviations

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool Quiz 1. The other two investigators are meeting with ____ to discuss what we have learned. a. I b. Me c. Myself 2. Jim and ____ traveled to Orlando for training. a. She b. Her 3. The new regulations do not ____ what we are doing. a. Affect b. Effect 4. The new regulations have no ____ on what we are doing. a. Affect b. Effect 5. The supervisor, ____ I consider to be excellent at her job, will be at the meeting. a. Who b. Whom

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool Grammar Quiz 1.Which of the following two phrases is correct? a. Vanessa and Ron’s car b. Vanessa’s and Ron’s car 2.How many commas does the following sentence require? The company introduced a revolutionary healthcare plan on February at its headquarters in Dubuque Iowa. a. 0 b. 1 c. 2 d Which of the following sentences is correctly punctuated? a. Our manager rejected our proposal, we were stunned. b. Our manager rejected our proposal; we were stunned. 4.Each of you _____ contributed a great deal to the workshop today. a. have b. has 5.Neither of the associates _____ going to be there tonight. a. is b. are

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool 6. _____ either of you available to give the talk tomorrow? a. Are b. Is 7.Mary Waller is working at her desk when her phone rings. She picks it up and says, “Hello?” The caller asks to speak to Mary Waller. If Mary wants to be grammatically correct, which of the following responses should she choose? a. This is her b. This is she 8. She spoke to Agnes and _____ about the upcoming meeting. a. me b. I c. myself 9.Which of the following sentences is correct? a. The book is not only boring but also costs a lot. b. The book is not only boring but also expensive.

© 2014 wheresjenny.com Business writing as a management tool 10.Which of the following contain(s) an error? a. Because it was raining, we held the annual company picnic inside. b. Because she had left her laptop at home, she didn’t have access to her files. c. Because he had far too many PowerPoint slides. d. All of the above.